Two men jailed for million euro cannabis haul in Limerick

Two Limerick men have been given lenghty sentences for their roles in transporting and storing over one million euro worth of drugs which was seized in Lisnagry in 2012.

46 year old Shane Ferguson of Meadowbrook, Mill Road, Corbally has been given a 7 year sentence at Limerick Circuit Court.

37 year old Kieran Nevin of Oliver Plunkett Street, Limerick has been jailed for five years.

Live 95FM's Eric Clarke reports from Limerick Circuit Criminal Court:

Both men had pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs for sale or supply on the 25th of May 2012.

The court previously heard that international delivery company UPS were used to transport the one million, forty-five thousand euro worth of cannabis from the Netherlands to Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland.

Shane Ferguson transported the drugs from Newry in a hired Transit van to Ahane, County Limerick where Gardai observed him swap vehicles with Kieran Nevin.

Nevin was arrested after he unloaded the drugs in five cardboard boxes at a cottage in Lisnagry.

The court heard Nevin became involved to pay off a gambling debt of €3,400.

Counsel for Ferguson Mr Brendan Nix (SC) said both men had been "taken advantage of by gobshites who think they own the country and prey on these types of fools."

Judge Carroll Moran accepted the men did not own the drugs but said it had been a sophisticated operation.

As Shane Ferguson was the more involved of the two he jailed the unemployed carpenter for seven years.